The build up to Metroid Other M continues with our boss video. http://bit.ly/d0CnlA

	Tetris Party Deluxe review ^{DS, DSI} Once more around the block
	New Kirby's Epic Yarn trailer Can you spot King Dedede?
	Metroid: Other M review ^WII Samus is back for some classic Metroid action
	Layton: Unwound Future ^{DS, DSI} We preview the final part of the trilogy

Login

Not a member yet? Click here to register!

Nintendo: Wii Reviews

Bit Boy!! ^WII

Klonoa: The Door To Phantomile ^WII

Review

The Conduit

76%

Format Nintendo Wii

Developer High Voltage

Publisher Sega

Genre First Person Shooter

8-Jul-2009 Sega's much hyped shooter falls short of greatness

73 Comments

With all the hullabaloo about The Conduit's graphics, you'd be forgiven if you missed the game skulking about in the shadows. That would be a shame, because it's really not bad at all. It looks nice, it plays well and feels decidedly grown up. Unfortunately it also feels about ten years old.

The rosy whiff of Rare's Perfect Dark is detectable through much of The Conduit, though that's no bad thing. The action is seamless and immediate, the story is fast-paced and full of conspiracy and there are plenty of unintentionally comedic aliens popping up, just like in the vintage N64 shooter. At least you get to shoot these ones though.

Up To The Hilt
Just like another classic shooter, Metroid Prime, the very beginning of the game sees you fully tooled up and able to call upon all manner of ways to dispatch otherworldly enemies. Then, there's a whip across time to a near-future Washington D.C. and regulation men in black to tear through. You're right at the start of a shadowy mission to discover why the planet is gripped by a bizarre virus, and just about to be beset by spindly-legged aliens who come at you through conduits which appear all over the city. You can see what they did there.

Derivative as the plot is, it's a lot of fun, and even makes you nostalgic for old episodes of The X-Files. There are two pressing issues you, as agent Michael Ford, bear in mind as you trawl through the US capital. Obviously there are the unwelcome alien guests (known as the Drudge), but there's also your organisation's role in the chaos enveloping the globe. So plenty of scope for confusion yet it's perfectly digestible thanks to snappy cut-scenes and on-the-go updates.

If the plot threading through the game is familiar, the running and gunning is even more so. There's a mixture of domestic and alien technology to play with; the latter obviously being stacks more fun than the former, with the likes of the Strike Rifle (a weird cross between a medieval lance and a rotting fish that fires a vaporising energy bolt) and the Shrieker (a laser-guided missile launcher) trumping the piddling old submachine gun and limited SCAR assault rifle.

The problem is you can detect the formula almost immediately. Run though a corridor, crouch behind a box and chuck a grenade, flush out side rooms, storm bigger room, restore health, repeat all over again. There's nothing wrong with that, it just might mean you lose the incentive to get through the whole ten or so hours of the game's single player campaign.

Making An ASE Of Yourself
One mechanism in place to try and make things interesting is the ASE (All Seeing Eye), a little ball which detects objects hidden to the naked eye like invisible mines and door switches. Combination puzzles are also revealed with the ASE, and these often grant you access to hidden chambers containing ammo, health and experimental weaponry. Not all of them are essential to progress but you'd be missing out on some cool stuff should you pass them by.

Shooting takes centre stage here and for the most part it's uncomplicated and rewarding, except for one or two duff pea shooters. Firing is done by pointing the Wii Remote and squeezing B, with a lock-on performed by hitting Z. It still requires you to aim within a target box though, so you still need a a steady aim.

Melee attacks come from a fierce jab of the Remote, satisfyingly. A tossing motion with the Nunchuk hurls hand grenades, but the problem here is that doing that upsets your aim. On numerous occasions we knocked our aim askew causing grenades to clumsily rebound off the ceiling or wall.

Team Up
As for the multiplayer, three main modes are included: Free For All, Team Reaper and Team Objective, and Wii Speak is a neat addition to all. Perhaps the most fun is had in Free For All. The action is frantic, with up to 11 others battling it out on some well-designed maps, highlights being the Streets level and the Pentagon level, both of which mix close combat with ranged shooting.

One of the cooler modes is Bounty Hunter, in
which players only get their points by taking down a designated target. Wii Speak really comes into its own with the team-based modes. You can only speak to your own team mates, helpful for plotting an assault on the other side way off in the distance. Complaints? You seem to move much slower than in the single player game, especially in ASE Football (Capture The Flag with the ASE replacing the flag), although that could be construed as a tension-building plus. Still, given the Wii's starved online shooter line-up, this is all very welcome.

However, the online mode doesn't do enough to make The Conduit and essential Wii game. The reason The Conduit falls short of must-have status is down to the repetition on offer in terms of influences and design decisions. Levels often become a chore, especially the ones set in dull grey military facilities, while the Drudge aliens are aptly named.

For all its lack of inspiration, The Conduit is still an enjoyable shooter. Just don't expect miracles.

Simon Bramble